Bahawalpur:Local Government Secretary Shakeel Ahmad Mian said on Thursday the Punjab government was implementing a highly sustainable cleaning system across the province under the ‘Clean Punjab’ initiative, in line with the vision of Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif, with the support of the private sector.
The initiative aims to provide uniform cleaning facilities to both urban and rural areas. Proposals from interested private sector companies for all tehsils in the Bahawalpur division will be submitted next week, and companies will be finalised for each tehsil in October.
He made these remarks during a briefing regarding the ‘Dreams Project’ and Chief Minister’s ‘Clean Punjab’ campaign, alongside Commissioner Bahawalpur Division Nadir Chatha at the office of the Bahawalpur Waste Management Company. Director Local Government Bahawalpur Zaman Wattoo and Coordination Specialist for Local Government for the Dreams Project Najib Aslam were also present.
Earlier, Chief Executive Officer Bahawalpur Waste Mana
gement Company Muhammad Naeem Akhtar briefed the Secretary Local Government and the commissioner Bahawalpur division about the Dreams Project, explaining that with the support of the Asian Development Bank and the Punjab government, the project is an “end-to-end sustainable solution” for waste management. The project would assist in waste management and include establishing Pakistan’s first modern scientific landfill site as part of the programme. The modern scientific landfill site would serve as a milestone in handling Bahawalpur’s solid waste system. It will enable segregation of large quantities of waste through a ‘Waste segregation plant for reuse. The landfill site will facilitate the processing of 500 tons of waste daily.
The CEO further said that the modern scientific landfill site will include anaerobic digesters with a capacity of 25 tons per day for producing biogas from waste, a unit capable of processing 10 tons of mixed plastic, a processing unit for 5 tons of construction debris per day, and a
unit with the capacity to produce compost from 5 tons of green waste daily. He also mentioned that the waste arriving at the landfill site will be sorted daily to make it reusable and generate revenue by making it marketable. The CEO informed the Secretary of Local Government and the Commissioner of Bahawalpur that the company has also launched a public awareness campaign, with the support of the Asian Development Bank and UNICEF, to separate waste at the household level and facilitate its disposal, which is yielding significant results.
Secretary Local Government Shakeel Ahmed Mian expressed satisfaction with the briefing, stating that the Dreams Project will prove to be a game-changer for improving the lives of the region’s people. The Punjab government’s top priority is to introduce an environmentally friendly system for solid waste management that can benefit the citizens here. He stated that the primary objective of the Dreams Project is to ensure that citizens are obligated to separate their waste, whi
ch is the key to the project’s success. He added that the Dreams Project will herald a clear change in Punjab, which will not only improve social behaviors but also reduce waste flow and piles of garbage by collecting and recycling waste through established methods worldwide.